# Better song? Imagine or Heal the World **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107 "2020-03-23T17:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/1 "2020-03-23T17:31:19Z")
Simply put, which cheesy song that is overused is actually better? I think it is clearly “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson. In fact, it is no contest. Imagine is a stupid song that only seems to have meaning the first few listens. When you repeatedly listen to Imagine, you learn that it is empty and also a kind of annoying song. Thoughts? Note: I am not giving a third option. I just want to know which song you think is better. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/2 "2020-03-23T17:37:31Z")
I googled _Heal the World_, because I was unfamiliar with it. It didn’t move me. I’ve never been much of a Michael Jackson fan, so that may explain it. _Imagine_ isn’t perfect, but it’s a good song. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/3 "2020-03-23T18:36:31Z")
Remember, you forced this on me: Imagine is superior because it doesn’t proselytize Christmas to the world. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/4 "2020-03-23T18:37:35Z")
n/m wrong song :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/5 "2020-03-23T22:15:01Z")
Is Heal the World not super famous? I’m blown away. I thought it was a massively famous song… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/6 "2020-03-23T22:34:24Z")
All the imagery of kids in the official video is a bit creepy, knowing MJ’s reputed interests. And I never considered it a particularly popular song. Seemed pretty schmaltzy to me at the time, and to me, time has not improved it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/7 "2020-03-23T22:40:33Z")
Yeah, I don’t recall this song, either. Looks like it only hit #27 here in the US on the Hot 100, which is a fairly middling hit here. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/8 "2020-03-23T22:44:41Z")
No contest–Imagine. Hearing the song instantly takes me back December 14, 1980 when radio stations observed 10 minutes of silence in memoriam. During those minutes I went through my Lennon and Beatles albums, thinking about how the songs had been a big part of my life. Imagine was the song played to end the silence. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/9 "2020-03-23T23:02:37Z")
I didn’t vote because I’ve never heard of \*Heal The World. \* Pop music is a big part of my life, and I thought I knew all of MJ’s work. Guess I missed one. But I do think \*Imagine, \*is over-rated and over-played. I’m betting if John Himself showed up he’d say “You, yeah, you, wanker. Why you playing this mushy shite over and over? It sounds like one of Paul’s songs…” ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/10 "2020-03-23T23:12:17Z")
I too have never heard of Heal the World. Imagine is an easy song to listen to. Slow and rhythmic piano, pretty boring lyrics aimed to be philosophical. Not a song I’d go out of my way to play but if a station aired it I enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/11 "2020-03-23T23:15:08Z")
Neither is great. Both were written by huge gaping hypocrites. Elton John sent Lennon a card with the Imagine Lyrics rewritten: > [@](#): > > “I gave it to John Lennon when I went to visit him. I thought it was a good present for a man who had everything. John and Yoko were as bad as me when it came to shopping. The various apartments they owned in the Dakota [in New York City] were so full of priceless artworks, antiques and clothes that I once sent them a card, rewriting the lyrics to ‘Imagine’: 'Imagine six apartments, it isn’t hard to do, one is full of fur coats, another’s full of shoes.’” > **[Elton John Rewrote ‘Imagine’ to Tease John Lennon](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elton-john-john-lennon-imagine/)** > > Elton John said he rewrote the lyrics to John Lennon's Imagine to tease him about shopping habits in October 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/12 "2020-03-24T00:19:23Z")
“Rio” by Duran Duran ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/13 "2020-03-24T06:44:39Z")
Of course I remember “Heal the World” - it’s the song that made me lose whatever little respect I still had for Michael Jackson. How could I forget it? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/14 "2020-03-24T10:35:02Z")
Never heard of “Heal the World”, and “Imagine” is a fascist song, so can’t vote. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/15 "2020-03-24T11:19:07Z")
I consider myself a Michael Jackson fan in the sense I know all of the singles / smash hits and iconic videos. I’m not as familiar with his deep cuts but certainly recognize some. I’ve never heard Heal the World and when I checked it out, I hated the video, lasted up the chorus and then came back here to post this. I saw no need to vote in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/16 "2020-03-24T11:30:01Z")
I don’t recall having ever heard “Heal the World” and from comments here, it sounds like I shouldn’t bother. I never liked “Imagine” even when it was first getting airplay. Its continued popularity is something I’ve never understood. So it’s a draw. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/17 "2020-03-24T13:35:57Z")
There should be an option for ‘neither’. 🙂 But if I’m forced to choose, it has to be Imagine. Michael Jackson’s song leaves me cold. For a cheesy song that’s actually moving, and a video with children that’s not creepy, how about… [Pete Seeger’s version of Forever Young](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezyd40kJFq0) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/18 "2020-03-24T14:01:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Never heard of “Heal the World”, and “Imagine” is a fascist song, so can’t vote. It’s more of a communist song, for me. No country, “nothing to live or die for”, no possessions…. Hate it just the same. This [Imagine/Jump mashhup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cigDX3hdihw) is something we can all agree on, though. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/19 "2020-03-24T14:09:25Z")
I love both of the songs, so it’s a real choice for me. _Heal the World_ is nice to listen to, and has good lyrics. Great for lyrical dance. We’ve used it for dance performances at our church. It’s an unobjectionable song. _Imagine_, however, is simply beautiful. Easy lyrics, easy melody, everyone can sing along. The lyrics express the kingdom of God on earth. It’s a great way to tweak the noses of churches who’ve forgotten the message of Christ. I could’ve voted either way. But like many others, _Imagine_ is bound up with memories and emotions from Lennon’s murder. I choose it. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107/20 "2020-03-24T15:56:34Z")
I confused HTW with the other glurgefest that is _Do They Know it’s Christmas?_, which, _as bad as it is_, is still better than HTW. Nice intention but musically sucky in every way. Not a fan of JL apart from the Beatles, and \*Imagine \*has lost it’s impact due to overplay, but aside from the lyrics it really is a pretty song. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-song-imagine-or-heal-the-world/850107.md?page=2)